Time Out! Devotions

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don’t care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn’t allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn If all My followers did that there wouldn’t be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 – 8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don’t have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don’t you write and tell him that you’ll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up… It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can’t afford and they don’t need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5 Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless?  Since you don’t know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren’t allowed to wish you a “Merry Christmas” that doesn’t keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn’t make so much money on that day they’d close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families.

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary–especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.

9. Here’s a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no “Christmas” tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don’t know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don’t do things in secret that you wouldn’t do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

Don’t forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I’ll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I’ll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember :

I LOVE YOU,

JESUS

Hebrews 2:17 (NIV)

¹⁷For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

You’ve barely dipped a toe into Matthew’s gospel when you realize Jesus hails from the Tilted-Halo Society. Rahab was a Jericho harlot. Grandpa Jacob was slippery enough to warrant an electric ankle bracelet. David had a personality as irregular as a Picasso painting – one day writing psalms, another day seducing his captain’s wife. But did Jesus erase His name from the list? Not at all!

Why did Jesus hang His family’s dirty laundry on the neighborhood clothesline?

Because your family has some too. The dad who never came home. The grandparent who ran away with the coworker. If your family tree has bruised fruit, then Jesus wants you to know, “I’ve been there.”

The phrase “I’ve been there” is in the chorus of Christ’s theme song. To the lonely, Jesus whispers, “I’ve been there.” To the discouraged, Christ nods His head and sighs, “I’ve been there.”

(by Max Lucado from his book, Next Door Savior)

Three days later, when David and his men arrived home at their city of Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had raided the city and burned it to the ground, carrying off all the women and children. As David and his men looked at the ruins and realized what had happened to their families, they wept until they could weep no more. David’s two wives, Ahino-am and Abigail, were among those who had been captured. David was seriously worried, for in their bitter grief for their children, his men began talking of killing him. But David took strength from the Lord. (1 Samuel 30:1-6 – The Living Bible)

King David’s psalms reveal that he faced some very lonely times. However, few experiences compared to his utter despair over the ashes of his city, Ziklag. The story of how he reached such anguished depths actually began much earlier – at a time when his faith failed.

After years of fleeing from King Saul’s death threats, David was discouraged and weary. He’d believed God’s promise to make him king, but now he began to waver in his certainty. So he did what many of us do – he resorted to human reasoning. Under the circumstances, his best option appeared to be seeking refuge among the Philistines, who were Israel’s enemies (1 Samuel 27:1). Blinded by his seemingly hopeless situation, David stepped out of God’s will in order to get beyond Saul’s reach. His lapse may have been just temporary, but it nonetheless proved significant. He stopped believing that God could guide him safely through “the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4).

Several months later, the future king entered his ruined city to discover that his wealth, his family, and his people had been taken. David’s band of warriors prepared to take out their frustration and anger on him. From the bottom of this pit of despair, a humbled man looked to God and found his strength and his faith renewed (1 Samuel 30:6).

Oftentimes, we reach our lowest points because we stop trusting in the Lord. At such times, it’s easy to give in to the temptation of taking matters into our own hands. When we do, it’s easy to wind up in a mess. But if we look to the Lord again, we will see the way out of our pit and back into His will.

(from the April 2009 issue of In Touch magazine – Dr. Charles Stanley)

Have a great weekend!

by Charles R. Swindoll

Philippians 2:3-5

Several years ago I determined to deal with my attitude. I found myself getting pretty testy, even argumentative at times. Our children were young and often had needs that required my time and attention. More often than I’d like to admit, that irritated me—to the point where my wife said I needed to think about how negative I was becoming, and then I needed to do something about it!

At first, like most husbands would, I resisted her words, but after giving them further thought, I realized that what she was observing was painfully true. To use a popular expression, I was in need of a serious attitude adjustment! I knew that if some of my emotional outbursts didn’t stop, I’d not only alienate all four of my children, I would become a lonely, bitter, and crotchety old man. The realization of all that led me to come to terms with my negative attitude.

I am so grateful I did! Among other things, it led me to sit down and write out a carefully worded statement on the importance of choosing the right attitude every single day. I had no idea how God would use it in the lives of people around the world. I’ve come across it in the most amazing places—and I’ve had friends tell me of their seeing it in such places as restaurant menus and hanging on walls in machine shops and hearing it quoted in sales conferences, memorized by cadets preparing to be highway patrolmen, and learned by students in school. Here it is:

“Attitudes”

Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitude toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it.

I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right, there’s no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.

I share this with you in hopes that it will help you as much as it has helped so many others, including me. Thankfully, I’m a different man today because I came to terms with my attitude a number of years ago. And because I did, as I grow older, I’ve became a lot easier to live with. Just ask my wife . . . and our kids . . . and their kids!

Reprinted by permission. Day by Day, Charles Swindoll, July 2005, Thomas Nelson, inc., Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved. Purchase “Day by Day” here.